Anti-splash hinged closing cap

ABSTRACT

Anti-splash hinged closing cap for pouring holes, attachable to the neck of a liquid container. It comprises: a lower ring (1); an upper lid (2) |with: an upper base (3), with two perimeter recesses (9); and a perimeter wall (4) with a visor (5) and two pairs of vertical notches (7) diametrically opposite the visor (5); and a hinging element, with: two flexible binding strips (8), between each pair of vertical notches (7); a tab (11) between the recesses; and a protrusion (12) located between the binding strips (8); The tab (11) and the protrusion (12) allow an opening of the cover (2) with respect to the ring (1) greater than 180°. The protrusion (12) has a cleft (13) defined in a lower sector of its outer face, to house the tab (11) with the lid (2) open.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to Spanish Patent Application No. U202231244 filed on Jul. 27, 2022, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein for all purposes by this reference.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention falls within the technical field of hinged closures and refers in particular to an anti-splash hinged closing cap.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the field of caps for receptacle, those formed by the hinging of two parts are commonly known, a lower part provided with the appropriate means for its coupling on the bottle neck and an upper part, cover or lid that occupies a closed or open position, allowing a user to take the fluid contained in the receptacle without the need to completely remove the cap.

In some cases, there may be a problem of small splashes of the housed liquid when the cover is opened and closed.

Within the current state of the art, the Spanish patent ES2751171, owned by this same applicant, refers to a cap for containers comprising a cylindrical body formed by the joint between two superimposing parts, a lower part provided with gripping means for its retention in the neck of the container, and an upper area with an upper base attached to a perimeter wall. The perimeter wall comprises a visor to allow the opening of the lid, where the visor comprises a flap arranged transversely to it and in correspondence with a recess located at the upper edge of the lower part. Said flap comprises, on an inner surface, a cord arranged transversely to the axial axis of the cap, to grip the upper part to the neck of the container.

With this configuration, it is not possible to completely avoid accidental splashes that occur when opening and closing the lid. Indeed, the opening hinge is made up of two parallel connecting strips that link the top lid with the bottom ring, as well as a protrusion arranged between the strips, and a projection that allows an opening of the lid greater than 180°.

When the lid is opened, a deformation occurs in the joint strips and the projection comes into contact with the projection and generates a tipping point or lever. Said point adds additional tension to the binding straps while keeping the lid open more than 180°. When folding the lid for the closing of the cap, it is necessary to reverse the lever point and release the tension on both strips. This release of tension causes a sudden drop of the lid which, when closed, can cause the liquid contained in the container to splash onto the user.

There is a need for an anti-splash hinged closing cap that avoids the existing problems in the current state of the art.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention consists of an anti-splash hinged closing cap that presents a modification in the hinging of the closing cover, which is designed to reduce the splashes of water that sometimes occur when the cap cover is closed.

The cap, which can be attached to the neck of a container, comprises a lower ring intended to be retained in a neck of the container, an upper lid, intended to temporarily cover a pouring hole of the container to seal it, and a hinging element that connects the lid to the ring in a hinged manner.

The hinging element comprises at least two binding strips, and a protrusion located between the binding strips. A protrusion or tab that starts from an outer perimeter edge of the lid allows the lid to be opened more than 180°. This tab acts as a pivot point of the hinge when cooperating with the protrusion and causes a clip with the protrusion indicating the user that the lid has been opened correctly.

The modification of the hinge consists of a defined cleft at the lower end of the protrusion, more specifically in the area intended to be in contact with the projection when the lid is open at an angle of approximately 180°. The cleft allows the lid to remain open at that angle, while reducing the tension generated at the lever point, so that the folding of the lid for its closing does not occur abruptly but smoothly, thus avoiding splashes of the liquid house inside the container.

When the lid opening exceeds 180°, the projection ledge comes out the hole and causes a warning click to the user not to continue folding the lid.

Thus, an articulated anti-splash closing cap is obtained, that easily and effectively solves the drawbacks of the current state of the art.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

To complement the description being made and in order to provide a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, according to a preferred example of its practical embodiment, a set of drawings is attached as an integral part of said description where, with an illustrative and non-limiting nature, the following has been represented:

FIG. 1 .—Shows a first rear top perspective view of the anti-splash hinged closing cap of the invention, in a closed arrangement.

FIG. 2 .—Shows a rear view of the cap.

FIG. 3 .—Shows a front top perspective view of the cap.

FIG. 4 .—Shows a front bottom perspective view of the cap.

FIG. 5 .—Shows a bottom rear perspective view of the cap in an open arrangement.

FIG. 6 .—Shows a detail of the cap in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 7 .—Shows a side view of a cross section of the cap in FIG. 5 , in which the lid is in a first opening position at 180°.

FIG. 8 .—Shows a side view of a cross section of the cap in FIG. 5 , in which the lid is in a first opening position at 210°.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A detailed explanation of a preferred embodiment of the object of the present invention is provided below, with the help of the aforementioned figures.

The anti-splash hinged closing cap for pouring holes for containers holding liquids described is intended to be attached to the neck of a container. The cap, shown in FIG. 1 , consists of a lower ring (1), intended to be retained in the neck of the container, and an upper lid (2), intended to cover the pouring holes of the container to seal it. A hinging element connects the lid (2) with the ring (1) in a hinged manner.

The ring (1) comprises gripping means for its retention to the neck, when opening and closing the cap. The lid (2) comprises an upper base (3) attached to a lower perimeter wall (4). From an edge of the perimeter wall (4) projects a transversal visor (5) to allow the opening and closing of the lid (2) by manual operation.

The upper base (3) also includes a cylindrical skirt (6) emerging from its inner face and sized for its insertion inside the neck of the receptacle to improve the tightness of the closure.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the rear part of the cap, where the hinging element between the lid (2) and ring (1) is arranged. As can be seen, in a sector of the perimeter wall (4) diametrically opposed to that from which the visor projects (5), there are two pairs of vertical notches (7) arranged parallel to an axial axis of the cap, which define the formation of two flexible joint strips (8) that link the lid (2) with the ring (1). These binding strips (8) have an upper end, attached to the lid (2), and a lower end, attached to the ring (1).

In this preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3 , the lid (2) comprises two recesses (9) located on the outer perimeter edge of its upper base (3) and a pair of perimeter incisions (10) in these recesses (9). The perimeter incisions (10) define a flexible junction with the respective upper ends of each of the binding strips (8), which are also configured to provide a continuous perimeter edge of the upper base (4). This feature allows the cap to be centered in encapsulation heads, thus facilitating packaging manufacture.

The upper base (3) has a tab (11), located between the recesses (9), which allows the cap to open more than 180°. The ring (1) comprises a protrusion (12) arranged between the binding strips (8), intended to cooperate with the tab (11) when the lid (2) is in its open position, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 .

This tab (11) and protrusion (12) configuration allows a lid opening (2) greater than 180°. Said tab (11) also serves as a tipping point for the hinge. In addition, said tab (11) causes a “clip” when interacting with the protrusion (12), which serves as a warning to the user indicating that a correct opening has occurred.

The protrusion (12) has, on its outer face, a cleft (13) defined in its lowest sector, more specifically in the area intended to be in contact with the tab (11) when the lid (2) is open at an angle of approximately 180°, as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 . In this way, the outermost end of the protrusion (12) is housed inside said cleft (13), helping to reduce the tension generated in the binding strips (8).

When the 180° opening of the lid (2) is exceeded, up to approximately 210° as shown in FIG. 8 , the protrusion (11) slides towards an upper end of the cleft (13) until it comes out of it, generating a warning sound.

The ring (1) is, before the first opening of the cap, connected to the lid (2) by frangible bridges (14) which are intended to break during the first opening of the lid (2). These frangible bridges (14) make up tamper-evident seals and connect the top edge of the ring (1) and the bottom edge of the perimeter wall (4). 

1. Anti-splash hinged closing cap for pouring holes, attachable to the neck of a container holding liquids, comprising: a lower ring (1) comprising gripping means for retaining it on the neck; an upper lid (2), intended to cover and seal the pouring hole, comprising: an upper base (3), having two perimeter recesses (9); and a perimeter wall (4); comprising: a visor (5) projecting from an edge of the perimeter wall (4); and two pairs of vertical notches (7); located in a sector of the perimeter wall (4) diametrically opposite to that from which the visor is projected (5); and a hinging element connecting the lid (2) to the ring (1), comprising: two flexible binding strips (8), located between each pair of vertical notches (7), each of which has an upper end, attached to the lid (2), and a lower end, attached to the ring (1); a tab (11) projecting from a sector of the upper base (3) located between the recesses (9); and a protrusion (12) located between the binding strips (8); wherein the tab (11) and the protrusion (12) cooperate to allow an opening of the lid (2) with respect to the ring (1) greater than 180°; the closing cap being characterized in that the protrusion (12) has a cleft (13) defined in a lower sector of its outer face, intended to house the tab (11) in an open arrangement of the lid (2).
 2. Hinged closing cap according to claim 1 wherein the upper base (3) comprises a cylindrical skirt (6) emerging from its inner face.
 3. Hinged closing cap according to claim 1 comprising frangible bridges (14) arranged between an upper edge of the ring (1) and a lower edge of the perimeter wall (4).
 4. Hinged closing cap according to claim 2 comprising frangible bridges (14) arranged between an upper edge of the ring (1) and a lower edge of the perimeter wall (4).
 5. Hinged closing cap according to claim 1 comprising perimeter incisions (10) located in the recesses (9) for flexible joint with the respective upper ends of each of the binding strips (8).
 6. Hinged closing cap according to claim 2 comprising perimeter incisions (10) located in the recesses (9) for flexible joint with the respective upper ends of each of the binding strips (8).
 7. Hinged closing cap according to claim 3 comprising perimeter incisions (10) located in the recesses (9) for flexible joint with the respective upper ends of each of the binding strips (8).
 8. Hinged closing cap according to claim 4 comprising perimeter incisions (10) located in the recesses (9) for flexible joint with the respective upper ends of each of the binding strips (8). 